It would be tough to argue against the impact of citizen journalism. It’s undeniable. But we can and do argue about its legitimacy and its output.

At least I do.

Now that everyone with an online connection can publish news and commentary, how do consumers decide what’s worthwhile and what isn’t? Has popularity trumped expertise in the 2.0 world? And how should PR practitioners react to the new environment?

Check out the conference website.

Next week at Kent State (Sept. 17), some of the foremost authorities in the news business will gather to talk about these issue. The one-day conference is titled “What Values?” and it promises to examine the question from three perspectives:

What values form the basis of online journalism today?

What values underlie media ethics on the Web?

What values inspire innovative news operations on the Internet?

Because public relations pros work so closely with news media — and because ethics is the foundation of trust in both fields — it’s a timely topic for us all. And it’s one helluva deal: just $25 for professionals and $15 for educators. Students attend free.

The program includes a slew of digital media luminaries who are sure to trigger a slew of meaningful discussion. Check out the details at the website.

If you can’t get to Kent State next Thursday, catch the conference via live webcast. Of course, that means you won’t be able to join us at Ray’s for beer afterward. So, you know, you really oughta get here.

**********

Disclosure: This post resulted from a pitch from an enterprising PR student at Kent State who I’ve known for a good while. You can meet him here.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 at 6:10 pm and is filed under Public Relations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Because I can’t get to Kent for the conference, I thought I’d add my 2 cents here:

* What values form the basis of online journalism today?

First step has to be to define “online journalism” so I’m going to say that we are ONLY going to talk about writer/posters who have credentials/education/experience/intention to talk FACT and not just OPINION.

In that case, the primary values should be TRUTH, OBJECTIVITY and RESPONSIBILITY to serve the public.

Of course, the values ought to be the same. But “Doing the Right Thing” for one person, e.g. and ultra Liberal OR for an ultra Conservative, might be ENTIRELY different.

Do NO HARM sounds like a good value to aim for — but impossible to uphold [it would seem].

* What values inspire innovative news operations on the Internet?

If we are talking about TODAY’S ONLINE MEDIA ENVIRONMENT, than it would seem that the values would be all aimed at finding ways to stay alive; I’m not certain that “serving the public interest” is at the top of the list.

Dad,
Thanks for the post. I’m excited for the conference next week and thankful for the opportunity to help plan/promote it.

Shari,
It’s too bad you can’t make it next week. Based on your comments, you may be interested in visiting the Web site between 9 – 10 a.m. on the 17th to watch the first session live — this way you can participate via the #ksuethics09 hashtag on Twitter. If you can’t make it then, the video will be archived on the site to watch at your convenience. (We try to be accommodating!)